1. Field of Invention
The present invention relates to a detector system. More particularly, the present invention relates to a detector system for measuring the electrocardiogram, pulse and voice sound at the same time and its analytical system.
2. Description of Related Art
Almost the function of every organ can be monitored and measured because of the advances in science nowadays. However, most developed techniques are invasive. For example, the cardiovascular checkup needs to put a pipe into the heart through the main artery, which is dangerous and painful to the testee (patient).
Compared with the invasive techniques, non-invasive techniques are not that painful and distressing to patients. But non-invasive techniques sometimes are not accurate and practical enough, due to its inability of entering into the human bodies.
Because of the recent developments in signal detection and processing, it is possible to strengthen the non-invasive techniques by implementing mathematical manipulation of computers. One representative example of the non-invasive techniques is the analysis of heart rate variability (HRV).
The analysis of HRV is to analyze small variances of the heart rate for human body in rest, which can be used to monitor the autonomic nervous system. In other words, it is attempted to analyze or evaluate the function of the autonomic nervous system without disturbing the normal life of the patient. In the conventional processes, standard chest electrocardiograms are used for the HRV analysis.
The autonomic nervous system (ANS) regulates individual organ function and homeostasis, such as heart beat, digestion, breathing and blood flow, and for the most part is not subject to voluntary control. These involuntary actions are controlled by the opposite actions of the two divisions of the autonomic nervous systemxe2x80x94the sympathetic and the parasympathetic divisions. Most organs receive impulses from both divisions and under normal circumstances and they work together for proper organ function and adaptation to the demands of life. Problems will occur when the autonomic nervous system is out of balance, causing, for example, coronary heart disease, hypertension, digestive disturbances and even sudden death.
Many techniques have been successfully developed to assess the autonomic nervous system. Among the different techniques in assessing the autonomic nervous system, HRV is an important breakthrough because this technique is noninvasive. Moreover, animal and clinical studies confirm HRV accurately reflects the sympathetic and parasympathetic activities and their balance.
For a health adult, except for the rhythmic heartbeats: about 70 heart beats per minute, there are beat-to-beat time interval variations. The heart rate variations can be regular (periodic) or irregular, as either speeding up or slowing down. Because these variations are small in amplitudes, they were often omitted in the past. According to previous researches, some of these minor periodic variations relate to the respiration, while some variations are irrelevant to the respiration.
Recent developments in electrical engineering have enabled the assessment of heart rate variability by frequency domain analysis, which bases on mathematical manipulations performed on the data. Investigators have discovered that, based on frequency analysis, HRV can be characterized into two main components: the high frequency (HF) component and the low frequency (LF) component. The high frequency component is equivalent to respiratory sinus arrhythmia and is considered to represent the influence of the vagal control of the heart rate. The exact origin of the low frequency component is not known. It is probably related to vessel activity or baroreflex. Some investigators further divide the low frequency component into a low frequency component and a very low frequency component. Many physiologists and cardiologists believe that the high frequency (HF) component or the total power (TP) can consider representing the parasympathetic control of the heart rate and the ratio LF/HF is considered to mirror the sympathovagal balance or to reflect the sympathetic modulations.
It is well documented that HRV is clinically valid and meaningful in reflecting many physiological functions. Reduced HRV appears to be a marker of an increase of intra-cranial pressure. A recent study by Framingham further indicates that if the HRV of an elderly is lowered by one standard deviation, his (her) mortality rate is about 1.7 times higher than a normal individual.
The voice sound generated from the vocal chord is not only a tool of communications, but also useful in assessing respiratory diseases like flues. Therefore, the voice sound can be used as an index of non-invasive diagnostic techniques.
There are two major fields in the development of non-invasive diagnostic techniques, one is about the detector system and the other field is focused on digital signal processing. The most important of all, the detector system needs to be accurate in obtaining data and convenient for the users.
Accordingly, the present invention provides a detector system for measuring the electrocardiogram, pulse and voice sound at the same time. The provided detector system is both comfortable and easy to use, thus promoting the application of this non-invasive diagnostic technique. The measured electrocardiogram signal and pulse signal are digitally processed to obtain quantitative values of the ANS activity, along with the analyzed result of the voice sound signal, for monitoring and diagnosing the diseases.
Accordingly, the present invention provides a three-in-one detector system that can measure the signals of electrocardiogram, pulse and voice sound from outside the human body (from the neck) in a non-invasive way. The measured results are further analyzed to transform the signals of electrocardiogram and pulse into indexes for accessing the function of the autonomic nervous system.
The present invention provides a detector system for measuring the basic physiological signals of electrocardiogram, pulse and voice sound at the same time and a corresponding analyzing system. The obtained signals are digitally processed and transformed into physiological indexes for monitoring functions of the heart, autonomic nervous systems, the vocal chord and respiration systems. The detector system is easy to operate, painless and be used at the convenience of the user. The obtained physiological indexes can be on-line analyzed or stored for later off-line analysis. Digital communications and the internet network can be applied to assist the analysis of the data for communicative diagnosis or monitoring. The present invention further provides a complete and multifunction analyzing system, which can analyze the measured electrocardiogram and pulse signals for monitoring the ANS function.
Since the detector system measuring the signals from the outside of the body (from the neck) is not heavy or complicated, the subject""s normal life and movements will not be hampered by the provided system. In combination with wireless communication, the detector system of the present invention can be portable and become a personalized system, unlike the conventional chest electrocardiogram detector.
It is to be understood that both the foregoing general description and the following detailed description are exemplary, and are intended to provide further explanation of the invention as claimed.